I don’t know about you but I like to schedule things. Maybe it’s because I have so much going on I need a plan to fit it all in or maybe I’m just getting absent-minded and I need the reminder. I AM busy so I’m going to go with the former rather than the later.
Regardless, I’m finding that I need to start scheduling days for my blogging and my writing or it just isn’t going to get done. First, the blogging.
When I was part of StartingWriteNow I was assigned a day of the week to post. There were usually five of us putting our thoughts out so it made sense to do it that way; it prevented us from stepping on each other’s toes (so to speak). It was also great for me because I knew I had a deadline to work towards. Some weeks I would write my post on Monday and set it to publish for my allotted day (usually Wednesday) and some weeks I wrote it on the day of. Either way, I posted every week for almost two years without missing a deadline.
Now that SWN is gone, I’m writing for my own site. The problem is, every day is technically my allotted day and at the same time none of them are. I have trouble with that sort of loosey-goosey arrangement; I need specific, concrete goals to work towards. To that end, I’m going to put a new post on the site every Wednesday. More often if the urge takes me, but Wednesday’s at a minimum.
Now let’s talk about my other writing. I have several projects on my plate right now. Let me list them in the order I plan to do them:
- Current WIP – Juvenile Reader Chapter book. I had originally set a date of June 5th for completion. I have come to realize that aggressive deadlines during the two months of what passes for summer here is insane. I am working towards a June 30 completion. Once the first draft is done, I’m going to let my Alpha-Readers take a look at it. I already have some ideas that I may incorporate into the next revision.
- My adult Fantasy “The Goddess Renewed” is due for a major rewrite. I really want it done to the point where I can start flogging it to publishers by fall.
- My short-stories – I have a half-dozen or so from my 30-in-30 self-challenge that I think might be good enough to publish. I’m going to work on the editing of those stories and start sending them out. I’m thinking “Escape Pod” (http://escapepod.org/) might be my first submission candidate.
I’ve also got one of my Juvenile Reader Chapter books doing the rounds. I’ll continue to send it out until if finds a home or I run out of publishers.
With all that going on, I need to start scheduling my work. To that end, I will be either writing or editing every day Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday are my work around the house days, but I will “try” to do some writing then. I’ve also got to start planning my podcast, so that work could end up being on the weekend schedule.
My Progress to Date
I already mentioned the current WIP above. I’m happy to report that I have exceeded 20,000 words on the project. For those of you who don’t know how long Juvenile Reader chapter books typically are, the range is somewhere between 25,000 and 40,000 words. I’m shooting for 30,000 for this one.
Books I’m Reading
I started reading Scott Sigler’s “Infected” today. It’s a real page-turner! It’s something to really look forward to when I ride the bus in the morning and the afternoon. I’m also listening to Tee Morris’ “Morevi Remastered” which I am really enjoying (http://www.teemorris.com/morevipodcast/). I strongly encourage you to take a look (listen?) to both.
The Countdown is On
I’d also like to draw your attention to Tee Morris’ newest work “Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Pitcher’s Pendant” which is due for release on August 8, 2008 (08/08/08). Tee is asking for everyone to put there order in at Amazon on that day to try and drive up the book’s ranking. His first book, “Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword” is good fun and available as a podiobook (http://www.teemorris.com/billipodcast/). Give it a try. You might even want to consider becoming one of Tee’s (or is it Billy’s?) Crazy Eight’s.
